


Shattered

by Pixilatedcorgi



Category: Critical Role (Web Series), Doctor Who
Genre: Gen, Not much violence persay but graphic descriptions of injury and gore
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-17
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2018-10-20 04:42:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10655139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pixilatedcorgi/pseuds/Pixilatedcorgi
Summary: The band of seven time travellers, Vox Machina, all from different places and times, have grown into a family unit. But when their travelling home explodes and sends them scattered throughout time, bleeding and confused, will they make their way back to each other?





	1. Vex

**Author's Note:**

> For reference until it gets mentioned:  
> Vex and Vax are from Traken during their tech age,  
> Percy is a Kahler from the beginning of their civil war,  
> Grog is an Ogron from before they were employed by the Daleks,  
> Scanlan is a human from Venice in the early middle ages,  
> Keyleth is a human from the 1960's,  
> And Pike is a human Time Agent from Alpha Metraxis,  
> If you don't know what those things are you can look them up on the TARDIS wiki or just ignore this note :)  
> Also, Percy built their time machine, it is bigger on the inside, but the inside is finite. It has a functioning chameleon circuit, it doesn't give occupants mental translation, and communications work through all space but not time. Just some technicalities.

She remembers a fight. She doesn't remember why they had fought but a fight had certainly happened. She remembers being inconsolably angry, doubly so because he was upset as well. He had a look of desperation and frustration on his face, trying and failing to keep his emotions in check. He said something to her, all but shouted it, and reached a hand out to her. She crossed her arms and took a half step back. Her own spite filled voice echos in her mind.

“I'm a grown fucking woman, Vax! I know how to make my own decisions!” What decision had she made?

“I know that. I don't doubt it for a moment, but please just listen!” Her brother’s voice echos back. She squeezes her eyes tight, trying to block out the guilt in her head. He had said something else, but she can't hear him now.

“Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself.” She remembers saying. She can still feel the false emotions on her lips.

“I'm always going to worry about you, Vex’ahlia.” He had said, smirking despite himself. She remembers her composure snapping at that, she yelled something at him with exasperation. He tried to interrupt her but she kept shouting, accusing. With each sentence she could not only feel the emotions curling off of him, but see it plain as day. His shoulders were up to his ears and he all but flinched at her every word. How could she have been this upset? What had happened?

“Just listen!” He shouts through the void in her memory. His words rip through her every thought and leaves a wound of shock just as intense as when he had said it. She remembers how the fight had escalated like this, they were feeding on each others emotions. Everything they felt grew exponentially with each word hurled between them. Her shoulders tense and she shrinks into herself. He rubs a hand across his face and runs it back through his hair. His face is grayed and practically glittering under the stress. With the heat she remembers on her own face she imagines herself looking the same.

“Please,” he finishes gently.

They turn suddenly to find Keyleth and Scanlan standing in the arched metal door frame, having been interrupted by Keyleth’s unremembered words. Scanlan said something, with an unsure and concerned smile on his small tanned face. Her face grew hot and she stormed past them into the corridor. She only remembers the loud sound of stomping on metal grating until she reached the console room. The large pillar in the center of the room, all but patched together with thread. Large computers lined the pillar and at the top it splits off into thick black wire that disappears into the ceiling. She let out a grunt of frustration like a grit teeth shout. She then stormed straight to the console and started setting coordinates lost to her now. She wanted to go somewhere to think, or to do anything but. Probably an empty forest with a starry sky. She punched the ignition right as a blur of white dashed into her peripheral. She turned to see him, Percy, with black smeared on his face and his coat abandoned revealing the sleeves of his white shirt pushed up past his elbows.

“Vex!” He shouts. The TARDIS rocked like the room was trying to rid itself of them. The two of them were flung away from the console and almost down a flight of stairs. Percy had snagged her waist with one arm while he clung to the metal grate with his other hand. They clung to each other as they slowly forced themselves upright. They were just about to their feet when the room rocked in a new direction, sending her headfirst into the console. Vex opened her eyes and found herself on her hands and knees, halfway under the console, with silvery blood dripping into her eyes.

“Vex!” Percy shouts again. He tried to reach down to help her but the console erupt into sparks and shrapnel. Percy was flung a few feet back with a spray of green blood leaping from his chest. Vex attempted to scramble after him but her feet could only flail beneath her, providing no support. The room rocked once more sending her skidding and sliding away from him. She landed hard on the far wall, knocking the breath from her lungs and causing her head to snap back and her brain to shake in her skull.

“Vex!” His voice shouts again. She pried her eyes open to see him on his knees, one arm holding him up and the other pressed to his stomach. He looked between her and the burning console with equal concern and fear.

“Vex, stay with me. Open your eyes, Vex, please!” He begs. But her eyes were so heavy. The darkness closed in and her eyelids fell. Black surrounded her on all sides and she felt alone. There were no voices in her head and it scared her.

“Vex, please!” Percy says, his voice too loud and too close. Although his voice comforts her in her empty mind, she can still feel his panic. An aura of fear rolls off him in waves and hits her like a truck. Something is wrong. She needs to get up.

“I don't know what to do, I need you. Please wake up.” He begs her. He sounds so scared, he needs help. She needs to help him. She pulls herself to consciousness with her determination alone and forces her eyes to open, but she can't get them to open fully despite her effort. The room is dark but Percy is so close. His face is still smeared with black grease and soot, but the twin green crescents under his left eye and on his temple shine through. His white hair is tainted, both by the same black matter and by traces of his green blood. Despite his state he smiles like he just discovered the sun and let out a breathy joyous laugh.

“Vex, thank the gods! Don't ever scare me like that again, I won't be able to take it.” He says, smoothing her hair.

“What happened… to the TARDIS..?” She forces herself to say, her tongue all but useless in her mouth.

“You attempted to fly it while I was mid repair and something went terribly wrong. The engines malfunctioned and caused an explosion of sorts.” He explains. She skews her eyes shut and reaches up to rub her head. Her fingers find warm liquid on her forehead and she opens her eyes again to examine her fingers. Coating them is silvery blood.

“Oh…” she says, at a loss.

“You had at least one head injury while we were crashing. I think you might have a concussion, I was worried you wouldn't wake up.” He rambles, leaning back and running a green stained hand through his hair. She lies there and thinks, trying to find some fault in her mental works. The pounding in her memories and the fuzziness of her senses confirm her injuries, but she finds something worse. Half of her mind had gone, gaping hole that used to occupy a cloud of emotion and awareness was left.

“Vax.” She breathes, her heartbeat picking up. “I can't sense him. Something is wrong. I can always sense him.” She says, her thoughts racing. She pushes herself to sit upright, but she finds that the world is spinning far too much to attempt to stand yet. Percy helps steady her with one hand. Her hand flies to her left ear and desperately mashes the button on the communicator.  
“Vax? Vax!” She shouts, internally begging him to respond.

“I've tried that already. No one picked up. We appear to be on our own.” Percy informs her.

“Why? Why can't they hear us? Why can't I sense him? Where are they?” She asks, all but flat out panicking.

“It's okay. You just can't sense him because he is somewhere else in time. When a time machine explodes the shrapnel gets scattered through time, not just space. I'm sure he is safe with everyone else, because even in an event like this there are precautions in the TARDIS’s mainframe. Everything’s alright.” Percy says, rubbing her shoulder slightly.

She looks at him properly, for the first time since she woke, and finds his skin a shade or two paler than his normal. She looks down to where his hand is clutched to his stomach and sees an alarming green stain covering his shirt.

“You're not alright.” She says, growing alarmed. He forces a laugh and clutches his stomach tighter.

“Yes. Now that you mention it I might have to amend that statement.” She holds his shoulders and eases him onto his back, Percy groans with the movement. Vex carefully unbuttons his ruined shirt to see his injuries. While he has some minor cuts and burns on his torso, he has a terrible gash running across his stomach. She carefully uses her fingers to peek past the green flesh, eliciting some pained groans from Percy, and sees something scary. She knows he was very lucky that his guts hadn't spilled from his stomach yet when she sees a cut in his diaphragm. The membrane that separates his organs from his muscles has a tear in it, and with the breach she knows how delicate he is in this moment. The tear itself isn't life threatening but were it to widen to the point that his intestines could fall out he would be lost.

“Percy. This is… well… nope, I can't describe it any way other than bad.”

“Do tell.” He deadpans.

“You're hanging on by a thread. If we don't find some way to stitch this up you could be holding your guts in your hands.” She says, bluntly. He nods and sighs, relieving some of the mounting stress of their situation.

“Well, is there anything around that you could use?” He asks, hopefully. The two of them take their first long look at the room around them. It isn't much of a room, but a cube shaped cave. The walls, ceiling, and floor are made of uniform stone. The shape of the room is so perfect it is clear that it was made somehow, but chips and cracks in the stone show neglect. The only breaks in the pattern are two corridors in two walls. Both fall into darkness by only a few feet, making it impossible for them to see where they lead from their location. To both of their disappointment the room is empty with only a few scraps of decaying matter stuffed in the corners.

“Well, this is discouraging.” Percy mutters.

“No, it's alright. I just need to go looking.” Vex assures. She hefts him upright by the armpits and drags him over to the nearest wall.  
“Sit here and move as little as possible. I’ll be right back.” She tells him.

“Are you sure I shouldn't come with you?” He asks nervously.

“I really don't want to move you in this state, so you're staying here unless there is a present danger.” She orders. As if on cue a monstrous guttural sound echos from one of the hallways. The sound is so warped and alien it is hard to say if it came from a creature or its stomach. Even more terrifying is the underlying clicks and scraping of sharp metal. Judging by the volume the source of the sound is either very large, very close, or both. They whip their heads in the direction of the noise and freeze on instinct.  
“On second thought I think you should come with me.” Vex says definitively.

“Good plan.” Percy whispers. Vex picks him up and wraps one of his arms around her shoulders. Percy is thankful for this as he is so focused on keeping a firm grip on his wound that he can barely concentrate enough to keep his legs under him. She bears his weight and walks them both through the hopefully empty corridor.


	2. Vax

In a hot and bright space, thousands of light years and actual years away, Vex’s other half is stirring awake. The pounding in his head makes him want to remain unconscious but the frantic shaking of his shoulder reminds him that he needs to wake. He hears a voice calling his name, but he can't recognise it. It's far too loud, and the ringing in his ears make it almost unbearable. He attempts to open his eyes but the amount of bright light in the room forces him to skew his eyes shut again. He stifles a groan at how the light had worsened his headache.

“Vax! Are you with us?” The voice shouts. Vax tilts his head away from it as the ringing in his head gets louder. With the shouting comes a wave of foreign emotion, worry and uncertainty is stifling his senses to the point where he can think of nothing else. He is completely overwhelmed. The light is blinding, the sounds are deafening, the fear is smothering. He is trapped in his own mind, he feels he can't even move, but he has to. He has to. His headache comes crashing down on him as he feels a hand strike his face. His eyes fly open in surprise and he sees a concerned Scanlan kneeling over him.

“Scanlan? What the hell?” Vax mumbles, rubbing his temple.

“I know you look pretty banged up right now, but Kiki needs you.” Scanlan replies.

“Ki…Keyleth!” Vax all but throws Scanlan off of him and jumps to his feet. He fights the world as it spins around him and runs to Keyleth’s prone form. Her normally perfect hair is tangled and wild, spilling out around her. Her normally rosy cheeks are pale and her forehead is beaded with sweat. Her green sundress is torn and smattered with red blood, including a large stain blossoming on her thigh. The feelings he senses from her are muddled, like she is barely clinging to consciousness. Or maybe it's just his bruised brain. He kneels down next to her and braces himself with one arm to prevent himself from falling. He brushes hair off of her face in an attempt to comfort her. She smiles with some effort and looks at him with dazed eyes.

“Hey, Vax.” She says, her voice quivering slightly.

“Heya, Kiki. How do you feel?” Vax asks softly.

“Tired, sore, a little cold. I'm also kinda scared.” She says honestly.

“Well don't worry. You're in good hands. You're going to be alright, I promise.” He assures. He kisses her on the head before shuffling down to inspect her wounds. He lifts up her skirt to inspect the largest amount of blood. The wound is on her inner thigh and while it is not very wide it is quite deep. He remembers what Pike had taught him about human anatomy, and the places where humans bleed more if injured there. He knows if this wound was on one of those places, arteries, then it could be lethal. He remembers that one such artery was near where the thigh meets the hip, and Keyleth’s wound is closer to the knee. He says an internal prayer of thanks to his goddess that her injury wasn't as bad as he thought.  
“Okay. You're alright, it's not as bad as it looks. I do need to stop this bleeding, though.” He says, just as much to himself as it is to Keyleth. He feels that she trusts him and her sense of safety helps ease his panic. He unties the black leather bracelet from his forearm and ties it tight around her thigh above the wound. Keyleth winces but keeps her mouth closed. Vax sits back on his feet and runs a hand through his hair with a heavy sigh.  
“You're okay. You're okay.” He repeats, trying to comfort her the best he can.

“Alright. Thank you.” She nods, smiling.  
“Question, though. Where are we?” The three of them finally take a moment to inspect their surroundings. They are in a massive cavern, hundreds of feet of space in every direction and hundreds more until the ceiling blocks their view. In place of stone, making up the walls of the cavern is shining blue crystal. The walls glitter with reflecting light, clearly being their only source of light with an unknown origin. The light bouncing off of every wall makes Vax cringe, it being far too bright due to his injuries.

“I don't know where we are, but we're safe. Scanlan, you should go look around, see if you can find an exit.” He says, closing his eyes to block out the light.

“What! Why me?” Scanlan exclaims, adding to Vax’s headache.

“Because Keyleth can't walk and I can barely see straight! We need to figure out where we are, or at least what the hell is going on! We need to find the TARDIS.” He explains, glaring at his blurry purple friend.

“What if it's dangerous out there.” Scanlan asks, wringing his hands. Wordlessly, Vax pulls a pocket knife from his belt and hands it to him.

“Please, Scanlan. We need you.” Vax pleads. Scanlan sighs and turns to creep down the far end of the cavern.  
“Stay safe! Keep in touch!” Vax calls, gesturing to their ear pieces. Scanlan shakes his head in resignation and puts a thumb up for his friend to see.

“The future is fucking weird.” The short man grumbles. The soft falls of his feet on crystal fade away quickly, and the two are left alone.

“So how are you, Kiki?”

“You already asked me that.” She mutters.

“Yes, but we should keep talking. It would be bad for either of us to go to sleep now.” He explains.

“Oh… Well, I'm still cold.” She responds. Vax removes his leather jacket and drapes it across her chest. She shifts under it, reaching to tuck the sleeves under her shoulders.  
“Thanks.” She smiles.  
“So, how are you doing, Vax?” He groans in response and rubs his face, blocking his eyes from the intense light.

“I've been worse. But I've also been better.”

“Got a headache?”

“A concussion, actually.”

“Oh my god, really?” She shouts. Unsurprisingly, Vax recoils and covers his ears.  
“Oops, sorry.” She whispers instead.  
“Are you sure it's a concussion?” She asks.

“I've had enough of them to know.” He grumbles.

“Have you had a lot of them before?”

“Yes. My race, we are… our brains are very sensitive. That's why we can feel others emotions, but it's also why they get damaged more. Vex and I got them all the time growing up. We would climb up trees and jump off. Mum would get so mad at us.” He reminisces, a smile creeping on his face.

“What is your planet like?” Keyleth whispers. Vax closes his eyes and sighs.

“Traken? Oh, it's beautiful, in the country at least. We lived in a little house in a small village. We were surrounded by tall blue grass, and the sky was nearly gold. There were these pure white trees, and these fuzzy little creatures would fly about them. Most of the time it was pretty cold, but a few days out of the year we would get a sunset and a sunrise at the same time, it was really breathtaking. I spent half of my time there in that village, and the other half in the city. It was beautiful in a different way, there were skyscrapers, flying trains, massive holograms. But it was like a giant cloud of emotions and thoughts, like fog. What about you? You're from Earth, right?”

“Yeah, I am. I'm from a big family that lived in the mountains. We could drive just a few hours west and suddenly we would be at the coast. We could spend all day at the beach, then fall asleep around a campfire in the woods. When I got older I started travelling. I've been to busy cities, beautiful rainforests, deep caves, snowy mountains. There was so much to explore and it was all so alive no matter where I was.”

“It sounds like you loved it.” He whispers.

“Yeah. I do.” She answers in kind.

“How did you meet Percy?”

“Well, it's kinda a funny story, actually. I was on the east coast protesting the war in Vietnam, and we all got arrested. We were meant to stay in there for a day at least, but some guy with white hair paid all of our bails. There must've been fifty of us, we couldn't believe it. I tracked him down after, and we got in a but of trouble. By that I mean we got in a shootout with aliens, I spent most of it screaming. He got me to safety by flying out of the galaxy, and I was pretty freaked out. But he protected me and cared when he didn't have to. When he asked if I wanted to travel with him I couldn't really say no. What about you?”

“Well, Vex and I ran away from home. Hoped from ship to ship, planet to planet. We eventually stole a shuttle and kept going on our own. We ran out of fuel and crashed on Earth. It wasn't like you were describing it, the city we were in was built on rivers. Scanlan found us and took us in, we didn't live an honest life but we were happy and free together. We met Pike and Grog before we met you and Percy. They told us about time travel, but they never took any of us anywhere. Pike told us stories about the places and times they went. I'm not sure at what point we started believing them, but the stories were always nice. I was kind of relieved when we met Percy, it meant we weren't crazy.” He laughs. Keyleth laughs along softly, not having the energy for much else.

“Do you miss your village?” She asks suddenly. Vax pauses, not sure how he will answer.

“A bit at times, but there's too many bad memories now. I prefer to keep going. Do you ever miss Earth?”

“Yeah, definitely. But I left home to travel, so I'm happy. And I know I can always go back.” She smiles, then frowns and looks away. He feels her growing worry before she even speaks.

“No, don't panic. We are gonna be fine. We will be home soon.”

“What if I can't though. What if we get stuck here, or something bad happens. What if we can't get back to the TARDIS?”

“Don't think like that. It will be fine, we will get back. Soon enough you will be drinking with Percy and all of this will be behind us. I promise.” He assures, holding her shoulder. He senses that his touch helps ease her so he gives a small squeeze and a smile. Soon her worry diminishes to where it was before.

“Thanks, Vax. You always know what to say.”

“Well, I do my best. My race is kinda good at that.” He jokes.

“What is it like, feeling emotions from people? It must be distracting. Is it weird, does it tickle?” She rambles. He smiles at her childlike demeanor, enhanced by her condition.

“It's not a physical feeling, more like instinct. The more I know a person the stronger my connection is with them. Sometimes with Vex, I can see her emotions like an aura. Usually only if she's really excited though. It feels weird, her not being here. Like everything is too quiet, like i've forgotten something important.”

“Are you worried about Vex?”

“I'm always worried about Vex.” He laughs.  
“But yeah, right now I am pretty worried.”

“Well, you said it yourself. We will get home soon, and we’re gonna be fine.” She smiles, lazily patting his cheek. He wishes he believed himself as much as she does.


	3. Pike

Somewhere and somewhen else entirely, the last member of their family stirs awake. She finds it hard to do so, not because of injury but because of the warmth and gentle rocking she experiences. Despite her comfort she forces her eyes open and is met with a muscular gray shoulder.

“Ugh… guyys?” She mumbles.

“Ey, Pike.” She hears. The voice is deep but the sound of a smile carries through.

“Hey, Grog. What happened?” She asks. While she slowly becomes more awake she processes her surroundings. She discovers that Grog is responsible for the gentle rocking, due to him walking while carrying her piggyback. The ground beneath them is rocky and barren, a thick layer of gravel that crunches rhythmically under Grog’s footsteps. Giant boulders dot the landscape, more impressive in their number than in their size, despite them being gargantuan. On the horizon of a yellowish green sky, in the very distance she can make out mountain ranges that circle them. Behind them, far away in the sky, she sees a storm of orange clouds. She doesn't recognise the planet they find themselves on but she hopes that any indigenous life is friendly.

“I dunno. I think the TARDIS went wrong, everything was shaking and stuff, then there was a big bang. You don't remember?” Grog asks. Pike closes her eyes and concentrates. Flashes of memory resurface. Her and Grog were sparing in a spare room when everything began to shake. They lost their footing and were nearly hurled into the far wall, but Grog caught her and cushioned her fall. The sound of an explosion shook the room and everything went white.

“I think I do now. Do you know where the others are?”

“Nope. Just you and me as far as I've seen. Couldn't hear them either, on the ear things”

“Oh no. I hope they're alright. Do you know where we are?”

“Nope. Just that it's boring as hell. Could you use your bracelet thing to get us out of here?” He grumbles.

“No. I left my vortex manipulator in my room. Sorry.” She apologises, raising her hand to rub her temples. Before she makes contact her eyes catch a dark substance dripping from her fingers. A grayish black liquid covers her hand, catching the light like oil. She knows that it isn’t oil.

“Grog, are you bleeding?”

“Yep.” He answers casually.

“Grog! Why didn't you wake me earlier! You're hurt!” Pike reprimands, sounding like her usual motherly self.

“Wha! It's nothing! If it was important I woulda. S’just a little blood. Just had some metal bits in my arm. M’ not hurt or nothing!” He whines, sounding like a child who got caught starting a fight. In his defensive rant his voice raises a few octaves but is still low enough that it would intimidate a stranger.

“Are you sure you're alright, buddy.”

“Yeah, Pike. You know me. I'm always alright.” He assures, smile plain in his voice. Pike sighs and wipes the blood off on her shirt, satisfied with his answer.

“I'd still like to look at it when we can, the next time we rest.”

“Okay, if you've gotta.”

“Have you seen any creatures here yet?” Pike asks.

“Just seen a load of rocks. Unless rocks are creatures.” He shrugs.

“Are you sure, Grog?”

“Yes, I'm sure!” He bites back, annoyed at her questioning him. Seemingly queued by his outburst, five people suddenly leap from cover and swarm them. They jump from behind the boulders and run towards the pair, quickly surrounding them. They all appear to be human, except for a woman with red skin that has small black spines poking out of her cheekbones and temples. They wear skin tight spacesuits in white with black markings and a collar that covers their necks and disappears behind their jaws. They don't wear helmets but silver clasps around their collarbones indicate where they would be placed. They don't draw any weapons, but Pike sees their hands are holding guns at their sides.

“Who are you! How did you get here!” One demands, a tall man with blonde hair.

“Um… our ship kinda… crashed. My names Pike and this is Grog.” She stutters, raising one hand to hopefully appear friendly while the other holds Grog’s neck to keep from falling. She can feel Grog tense beneath her and she hopes that he can keep his cool long enough to see if they are in trouble or not.

“We haven't detected any ships in the area. No one could have gotten this far anyways.” Says a muscular man with long brown hair. Portions of his hair are braided back to make room for a metal band that wraps around his forehead.

“I'm sure that I can explain everything. But first could I ask a couple odd questions? Where are we, and what year is it?” Pike asks awkwardly. She has been in situations where asking the question got her arrested on the spot, but she is hopeful that these people will at least humor her. To her amazement, she is answered with a question.

“Wait. Are you a time agent?” Asks the woman with bright red skin.

“Yes! Oh thank the goddess, that makes things much easier. Grog, we’re okay. Let me down, buddy.” Pike sighs, patting Grogs shoulder in reassurance. He nods and gently sets her on the ground, keeping a large hand on her shoulder when she wavers on her feet momentarily.

“Did you get our distress signal then? Are more on their way?” The blonde asks.

“Sorry, but no. We did kind of crash. Our time machine malfunctioned and threw us out. We really don't know where we are.”

“So, you’re basically useless?” Deadpans the man with brown hair.

“No, not quite. We can be very helpful. Isn’t that right, Grog?” Pike says, unsubtly elbowing Grog in the leg.

“Oh, uh, yep. Really helpful. That’s us.” He says, unconvincingly.

“Plus, if I can get a signal to my friends they could get us to safety.” She finishes.

“Well, then. It sounds like we can both benefit from a deal. Our crew can help you contact your friends and you get us the hell off this planet. We can bring you back to our Captain for negotiations, but I doubt she will let go of this opportunity.” The blonde man declares, holding a hand to her. She shakes it firmly and nods.

“Sounds like a plan. Although, I never got an answer. Where are we?” She asks.

“Oh, right. Well, I’m sorry to inform you that you're on Liastros IV, and the year is 5146.” He says, gesturing to the rocky terrain around them. Without saying anything further he begins walking back where he came. The rest of his unit hesitantly follows, sparing some glances back at Pike and Grog.

“I am Commander Aldor, head of the enforcement unit of our base. The rest of the crew is back at the base, just over this hill here. There are around 50 of us, they will be glad to hear that some form of help has arrived.” He says over his shoulder. Pike and Grog follow Aldor and his crewmates a few paces behind not wanting to intrude, until the woman with red skin beckons them to follow. Next to her is the man with brown hair, looking frustrated at her lagging behind. Pike has to jog to catch up with the two, her only reaching to their hips in height, while Grog has to consciously walk slow enough to keep in step with his friend.

“Your names are Pike and Grog, yes?” The woman asks.

“Yep, that’s us, and you are?”

“My name is Zarah, I’m the lead terraforming operations supervisor. This here is Kashaw, one of our best medics. Don't worry about his sour mood, he's always like this but he will warm up to you eventually.”

“Not gonna happen. You seem nice, but not gonna happen.” He deadpans, looking straight ahead.

“Aw, he likes you already.” Zarah smirks. Kashaw rolls his eyes with such force that Pike is almost worried they will fall out of his head. The communicator band on his head lights up yellow and Kash perks up, as if listening to an unheard voice.

“Z, I gotta take this.” He says, stalking away from them.  
“Okay, okay. Say that again, and slow down would you?” He grumbles as he gets out of earshot for his conversation.

“So, what mission is this crew on anyways? I never heard of any colonies on Liastros.” Pike asks Zarah.

“The mission originated from Androzani Major, and our crew is the third mission to this planet. Our mission is to terraform the planet for humanoid life to prepare for a colony to be built here. The first two missions were just for recording data and analyzing the soil and atmosphere. Our first year of progress has been converting that atmosphere to breathable air. Just last week we started the process of terraforming the soil around our base when suddenly our systems started failing, we’ve focused on keeping our life support running but barely succeeded. We managed to send out a distress beacon before our communications were severed. We weren’t sure if we had the materials to get everyone back home so we are exceptionally lucky that you came.”

“You said your systems are breaking down, in what way? I’m not much a tech expert but I might be able to help.” Pike suggests.

“No, not breaking down as in not working, the actual parts are disintegrating. One of our rovers turned into a pile of dust in front of our eyes. That was about the same time that everything started getting worse.” Zarah explains. Kash returns to the three with a grim look, Pike isn’t sure he can brood any harder.

“Strap in, cause it’s getting worse again. Lyra just phoned in and told us that the energy ports on our molecular reconstructors just turned to dust. That means we can't power the thing. No reconstructor means no water production.” He informs.

“Shit. Did she say how much water we have in storage?”

“Not a lot. For the whole compound maybe 3 days with rationing. After that we’ve got another three days before we all drop.”

“It won’t take a week,” Pike says confidently. “I’m gonna get a message to my friends and they will get us out of here before then. I promise.”

“It’ll be hard since our communications systems are half dust by now.”

“Then we’ll fix it. I just need to send out space/time coordinates and then we’re gone.”

“Regardless, we gotta get you two back to base asap. We don’t have the time to spare,” Zarah declares. Kash nods and speaks into his communicator.

“Lyra, we’re bringing back the people we found, they’re here to help us off this deathtrap… Yes they’re real people… I don’t know how they got here, she says they’re time agents… I don’t know what that is either… Lyra just listen to me, I have instructions that you must follow very carefully… shut up.” He carelessly rips the communicator off his head and tosses it to Pike.  
“You talk to her, she’s driving me nuts.”

Pike lifts the communication band and holds it over her head. While it is much too big to fit her it scans her head and retracts to fit snuggly. Zarah elbows Kash to get his attention.

“Kash, go bring Commander Aldor up to speed.” He nods and jogs off to inform the rest of the group about the situation at the base. Pike really hopes that she can get everyone to safety in time. The communicator activates and Pike can hear a shrill voice.

“Kash? Kashaw, where did you go? Don’t hang up on me without signing out, that’s against code and just plain rude!”

“Uh, hello. No Kashaw, just me.” Pike greets.

“Oh, hello. Who are you?” The voice asks.

“My name is Pike, you must be Lyra.”

“Yes, that’s me. Are you the new person? How did you get here? Kash said you were a time agent, what’s that?” Lyra asks ecstatically.

“I’m afraid that’s all classified. And by classified I mean really hard to explain right now. Basically I’m a time traveler and something went wrong with our time machine and now we’re here. My buddy Grog and I are gonna help get you guys off this planet. Then I can answer your questions.” Pike assures.

“Well, that’s wonderful. I still don’t know what a time agent is but I’m sure you know what you’re doing. It’s such a relief to know we’re getting out of here soon. Thanks so much for the help, Pike…” Lyra rambles on as Kash returns and gestures for Pike to take off the communicator.

“Sorry, Lyra, I gotta go. Kash is back.” She quickly interrupts before taking off the band and handing it back to him. He slips it onto his head and stalks away from the group once more.

“Lyra, I’m back… I don’t care if that was rude, just please connect me to the captain, I have a message for her.”  
Hearing Lyra be so sure that she was in safe hands made Pike doubt herself even more. She doesn’t know what state the TARDIS is in, or more importantly her friends. She’s left hoping that rescue is an option. Even if everyone is fine she has no clue if she can get a message to them in time. She will have to operate on faith, something she has gotten used to.


	4. Vex

Vex and Percy stagger through the stone corridor, using each other for support. One of Percy’s arms is across Vex’s shoulder while the other clutches the wound on his stomach. Vex has one of her arms around Percy's back to keep him upright and the other stretches out to touch the wall. The concussion is making it harder for her to see straight and the headache is becoming almost unbearable. She needs to keep them moving, there's something behind them. Percy stumbles and pulls Vex to a halt. Before she even looks at him she knows that his pain is nearing too much to bear, she can feel it coming off of him in waves. His face shines with sweat and his brow is tightly knit, his eyes are staring far away in concentration, he is breathing heavily but his jaw is clenched so tight that it shakes. He is paler than before and even the green markings on his face have lightened a few shades. It breaks her heart to see him like this, she wants to drop everything and help him but she is more worried about the creature behind them.

“Percy, we have to keep going.” She says.

“You know, usually I am an excellent multi-tasker but this feels like asking a bit much.” He deadpans. He is trying to keep up his dry wit but even talking at this point is a strain.

“Try being a concussed navigator. I know this is hard but I can’t carry us both, I just can’t.” She begs. Percy takes a few deep breaths and continues walking.  
Vex channels every ounce of her concentration on the path ahead, but her mind seems to battle against her. Her focus is foggy to begin with due to her injuries, but Percy’s deteriorating state is making it hard for her to think of anything else. She might be able to block out the emotions she feels from him but she can’t ignore his bruising grip on her shoulder or the way he winces with each step. She just barely forces herself to focus on the task at hand. With so many things going wrong she must solve one problem at a time and set her emotions aside. She can cry once they are safe.

“We are going to have to stop eventually.” He struggles.  
A roar echoes out from behind them again, like the last scream of a poor soul coming through a broken machine. The roar bounces off the stone walls and assaults Vex’s senses, her already ringing head seems to physically vibrate with pain. A shock of fear shoots up both of their spines and they both instinctively hold their breaths. They hear the clicking and scraping sound, closer than before. Vex forces both of them to continue down the dark corridor.

“I know, darling, but not just yet.” She says under her breath. She continues pushing forward, keeping a slow pace so that Percy’s slow shuffling can keep up with her. The two of them stagger down the halls, turning corner after corner without finding a single room. The further they walk the slower their pace gets, and the more aware they are that the creature is slowly gaining on them. As soon as they turn their third corner Percy’s endurance runs out.

“Stop, stop!” He gasps, forcing them to stop again. He doubles over as his legs give out under him. Vex has to catch him with both arms to keep him standing, but he is still hunched forward clutching his stomach desperately.  
“I can’t, I can't keep going. It’s too much, I'm sorry.” He stutters, grinding his teeth. His face is twisted with pain and his whole body shakes. His skin is almost as white as his hair. Vex knows that he truly can't go any further, but as she hears the lumbering footfalls behind them she knows they cannot stay where they are. She searches up and down the corridor desperately looking for some place to hide. She finds no doors but she does find a small divot in the wall where some stone fell away in a minor cave-in. If the creature so much as turned its head they would be spotted immediately but it is better than being out in the open. She hauls Percy back onto her shoulders and drags him for the hole.

“C’mon, Percy, just a bit further. I promise.” She mutters, keeping as quiet as she can. She grits her teeth with the effort of supporting almost his entire weight. His feet shuffle all but useless under him, helping move forward but not holding him up. Luckily as they reach the hole in the wall it is just deep enough to hide them both. Vex presses the two of them against the wall nearest to the creature, hoping it would help obscure them that much more. This is about the worst job of hiding she has ever done but it was her only option apart from facing the creature head on. She listens as hard as she can for the creature’s advance but Percy’s breathing is far too loud. She slaps her hand over his mouth and continues listening. Its footfalls tell her that it has at least six feet, maybe more. She can tell that the clicking and scraping noises coming from the creature are metallic, but its footsteps sound like organic material on stone, so it isn’t a robot. As the footsteps grow louder and the creature draws closer she starts counting the time between a step and it’s echo. The time draws shorter and shorter, like the time difference between lightning and thunder, until the creature is right on top of them. No matter how hard she tries, she can’t hear the creature’s breathing.

Out of the corner of her eye she sees it lumber into view. It has green-gray skin, scaled and mottled. It’s dry and flaking off of the creature like a snake shedding it’s skin. Its back is bony and hunched like a rhino’s. It has six legs like tree trunks dragging along with each step. Its chin and throat are covered in dark green tentacles, hanging limply and touching the ground like a horrific beard. In place of a mouth there is a thick beak like a bird’s, jet black and razor sharp. The creature is covered in cybernetics, the metal is rusted but lights blink in a variety of colors. Some metallic enhancements wrap around its legs in segments with motorized joints where the creatures real joints are. Other cybernetics appear to be thin metal arms sprouting from the flesh of its back and sides. Some arms have simple graspers on them while others, strangely enough, have small brooms, bins, and misting devices on them. Its head lolls forward limply as if it were staring at the floor. It appears to have two eyes on each side of its head, and to her horror she stares right into two of its eyes. The eyes are unfocused and milky white, she can barely make out a pupil.

Although Vex is sure that the creature saw them it continues walking at the same pace, not appearing to notice them in any way. She continues to listen to its footsteps until it turns a corner and walks away, she even waits a few more moments until she is sure it is far away. She then throws her head back against the wall and gasps with relief, letting go of the breath she wasn’t aware of holding. Percy does the same and promptly slides down the wall to sit, both of his hands move to grasp his stomach tightly.

“What the everloving fuck was that thing?” Vex whispers harshly.

“I don't know,” Percy breathes.  
“But it was definitely a cyborg. And that’s not all.”

“Percy, that thing was dead. I looked into its eyes and there was nothing, no life at all.”

“I know.”

“Then how was it walking? How was it following us?”

“That I don't know. And hopefully we will find a way to leave this place before we have to find out.” Percy sighs, resting his face on his knees.

“If we knew what these things were we could stand a chance against fighting them.” Vex muses.

“I’d prefer avoiding them but you are right.” Vex looks out into the hallway to make extra sure that it’s empty, then turns back to Percy.

“We can’t stay in this hole in the wall. I’m going to go ahead and find us someplace to hide. Okay?” She asks. Percy nods but says nothing. Vex stands up and goes back out into the hallway, keeping herself low and her steps silent. She walks down the dark corridor and quickly comes to a T intersection. She stands near the wall and looks up and down each turn, checking for any signs of which way the creature turned. While she doesn’t find any trace of the walking corpse she does see a doorway with a faint flicker of light inside.

She stalks across the hall and presses her back against the wall near the door, not daring to go in just yet. Vex whips out her pocket-knife, one that Vax had given her when she was little, and uses its reflection to peak around the corner. She does a quick scan and sees the light coming from a broken computer screen flashing with static. Her angle doesn't give her sight of the entire room but she sees no sign of any recent inhabitants. She darts into the room, taking her chances there rather than the hall, and does a more thorough inspection. From the looks of it the room appears to be a security station, with screens showing camera feeds from several stone rooms and halls. Occasionally one of the creatures lumbers its way onto and off of screen. Sitting at a desk in front of the screens is a chair built for a humanoid. Rather than bothering to question what used that chair in the past she thinks that Percy would be thankful for the comfort.

Vex quickly makes her way back to Percy after checking that the hallway was still clear. She is starting to feel paranoid but since it seems that everything has already gone wrong she doesn't want to give the universe any more opportunities to fuck her over. Without a word she hoists Percy back onto his feet, he hisses in pain at the movement. Vex quickly looks at his stomach and notices that his hands are struggling to keep a firm hold of his wound and green blood is starting to drip from his fingers. She reaches down and keep the wound shut herself to avoid leaving a blood trail, causing Percy to wince again. Vex then drags him to the monitoring room and props him up in the chair. When she sets him down they both sigh with immense relief.

“How are you doing?” Vex asks. It's a stupid question but she doesn't know what else to say.

“I'm worried that all the walking around made my injuries worse.” Percy responds, moving his hands partially for Vex to see. She takes a look, not touching this time, and finds that the tear is bigger than before.

“Fuck, Percy, we can't keep moving you around.” She mutters, rubbing her temples.

“As much as I'm inclined to agree with you, we don't appear to have a choice in the matter.” He says, quickly covering his wound.  
“But while we’re here we should gather some information about where we are.” He carries on, nodding to the computers. Vex nods and looks for a way to access the system. While there is no physical keyboard or access panel she finds a small holographic projector, when she waves her hand near it the device creates a flickering keyboard made of light on the desk’s surface. She uses it to navigate the data library, quickly finding that almost all of the entries are in a language typically used by humans. It is difficult to gain any context to their situation because there are many files that Vex cannot access, either due to security walls or the degradation of the device corrupting the entries. Vex has some hacking capabilities, most of which learned from her brother, but because of her concussion, the unfamiliarity with the system, and the state it’s in she finds it extremely difficult to get around the security protocols than normal. With luck, though, she manages to access the detailed timeline laid out by day-to-day status reports. Skipping straight to the end she skims through, looking for answers.

“We are on the planet Cleon and the year is 3912. It looks like this was a mining base occupied by humans. It was around for a few centuries until the terraforming failed and made it uninhabitable. They left for a planet called Olara.” Vex informs.

“How far away is Olara? We may be able to get a message to them.” Percy says. Vex pulls up the flight plan for the departure and her heart drops.

“50 lightyears. At the level of technology they were when they left the journey took 82 years.” Percy sighs and goes to rub his face, stopping when he remembers it’s covered in blood.

“Can you tell how long it has been since departure?” He asks.

“The last entry was over 600 years ago, so maybe if we got a message to someone they could actually get to us.”

“It is possible that they could get to us in time, I doubt we could get a message to them. All the technology is obsolete now, they might not be able to detect it.”

“So the only hope of rescue is the TARDIS.” Vex mutters.  
“Which has no one flying it. Even if someone was in it we couldn’t get a message to them. And even that's assuming that it's still operational!”

“The only thing we can do is try to get a message out and hope that someone will answer. There should be enough tech around that I can construct a beacon. Not enough for communication, just a sort of… blip that the TARDIS can pick up our time-space coordinates.” He says, wheeling himself over to the communications monitor and opening the maintenance panel. He unscrews some parts and rips them out, making a neat pile of machinery on the desk. He then picks up the pieces one by one and inspects them, determining their function and state of repair. Some he tosses over his shoulder but most he keeps.

While Percy begins making the beacon Vex continues reading through the last entry. In a short paragraph hidden in the middle there are mentions of something called a Naifled. The human speaks about how they had decided to leave the Naifleds behind, and had set up plans to poison their food source so that they wouldn’t starve. From this she gathers these Naifleds are creatures, possibly the dead ones that walk the hall. Vex opens up the medical records and searches the keyword Naifled. She assumed that if the humans had installed the cybernetics into these creatures there would be record of it. Sure enough the first record was a detailed report on the surgeries to connect the nervous system to the processors. As she skims through she relays the important information to Percy.

“I’ve found notes on the creatures in medical records. It looks like nanogenes were inserted into the bloodstream to constantly heal them, which is why they are still in one piece. It also says that some creatures were given cybernetics for different tasks, and only a small group of them have weapons. Unfortunately the thing they share in common is a hivemind and being indestructible. So if one ever sees us it will alert the security to come and incinerate us. Since they were cyborgs they relied on the brain for complex thinking, meaning that without a brain they can't be reasoned with. With just their base programming left it should be easy to avoid them, but there are a lot of them so we should still be careful, alright Percy?” She finishes her information dump with a question just to be sure he was listening. She doesn’t wait for an answer, still when none comes she feels a pit of dread form in her stomach.  
“Percy?” She asks, turning to him.

Where Percy previously sat at work, he is now slumped over the desk with his arms hanging limp at his sides. Without pressure on his wound the green blood flows freely and drips down to a small puddle on the floor. Vex can just barely hear his breathing, shallow and erratic. Seeing Percy like this temporarily stuns Vex, freezing her in her spot. The angle that he sits at causes his chair to slowly roll away from the desk until he falls out completely into a pile on the floor. As he falls she finally jumps to action, racing over to him. She grabs his shoulders and shakes him violently. His eyes weakly open and close but otherwise he doesn’t react. His skin is ghost white and his lips and fingers are beginning to turn purplish-blue, the markings near his eye are now barely even green. His breathing is nearing on hyperventilation, almost like he is trying to cough but can’t get enough air. She continues to shake him, begging him to come back to consciousness.

“Percy, stay with me! Open your eyes, Percy, I need you here with me! Percy!”


	5. Vax

It's been well over 10 minutes, maybe nearing 20, with no word from Scanlan. Vax didn't tell him to check in when he left, but given the circumstances and how nervous he was when he left Vax expected him to anyways. Vax has sent numerous messages to him in the past few minutes and none have been answered. This place, wherever it is, doesn't seem inherently dangerous but looks can be deceiving. Perhaps he had gotten himself into trouble with local life, or had fallen and injured himself. Vax has never been a fan of the unknown and given the already terrible situation he is struggling to keep a level head. Keyleth’s voice has helped keep him grounded thus far but as time passes she grows concerned about Scanlan as well. He sighs and stands, waits for the world to stop turning, and looks towards the mouth of the tunnels.

“Scanlan’s been gone for ages, I should go looking for him.” He says. He meant to say it as a statement but there is an uneasiness in his voice. He sent Scanlan alone for a reason, if he is in trouble Vax doesn't know if he can help him. Even if he could leaving now means abandoning a scared and injured Keyleth. However, finding Scanlan means helping get all three of them to safety. Vax finds his position familiar, caught between a rock and a hard place.

“Wait, Vax.” Keyleth says, holding onto his ankle.  
“Don't go, I'm scared.” Her voice is so weak it pierces straight into his heart. He crouches down and holds her cheek. Despite the pain he puts a smile on his face, hoping to ease her worry.

“Don't be scared, Kiki. You won't be alone for long. Once I've found Scanlan with his pants down I’ll kick him back into gear and head back to get you.” He says, resorting to his instinct of trying to make her smile to mask his own fear.

“I'm not scared for me, I'm scared for you. If Scanlan is in trouble then that means you're walking right into it. And if you can barely see straight then how will you save him and yourself?”

“I'm fine, just a bit dizzy. I'll be safe, I promise.” They both know he is lying. His head is foggy, the ground turns beneath his feet, and it hurts to see. The truth is still that he is in much better shape to leave than she is. With a grimace Keyleth nods.

“Come back to me, alright?” She asks. He smiles and places a gentle kiss on her lips.

“Always.” He whispers. Before he can take a step he notices a sound. A low and gentle rumbling noise, that the longer he listens the more steady it becomes. While he is still wondering what could make the noise he begins to notice some crystal flakes around them begin to shake with the vibration. The sound gradually becomes louder, enough to determine where it is coming from. Right beneath them. Joining the rumbling are the sounds of loud cracks, like what would be heard in a rock slide or the breaking of thick ice. An icy pit of dread settles in his stomach, aware of what is happening.

“Vax, what was that noise?” Keyleth asks, attempting to push herself upright. They look to the crystal that they sit on and see fractures form in the floor, not in the surface but not far off either. Vax reaches down and hefts Keyleth up, she gasps at the pain standing causes her and leans on Vax for support. He wraps her arm around his neck and begins dragging the two of them forward. He grimaces at the distance between them and the exit but continues on, as it is their only way out of this cave. The rumbling and cracking sounds intensify and he can now feel the vibrations of the caves in his bones, rattling his teeth in his skull. The floor beneath them begins to splinter, long cracks forming in the surface and snaking their way into his path. He knows any wrong footing on their part would send them falling to get crushed. The cracks begin to climb the walls and up to the ceiling, sending fragments of crystal clattering down around them. Vax knows in his gut that this cave will fully collapsed within seconds. He swings Keyleth up and holds her bridal style while she gasps and grips his neck tighter.

“We need out of here now. I can be fast but I'm not sure I can get us out safely with the state my minds in. I need you to guide me Keyleth.” He says, already picking up his pace.

“What! I can't do that!” She asks. He shakes his head in frustration.

“We don't have time for this, Keyleth. Do you trust me?”

“O-of course I do.” She answers.

“And I trust that you can do this. I can't get us out of here alive, so you have to.” He looks into her fear filled eyes and ignores his heart breaking in his chest. She nods wordlessly and he closes his eyes, putting all of his faith in her. His double vision would only make him lose his footing, killing them both. He breaks out into a sprint, keeping his strides long to hopefully avoid tripping on any cracks.

“Left!” She orders. He turns left and goes at an angle. The floor beneath him is sliding and is littered with crystal debris, but his speed prevents him from falling.

“Right!” He veers to the right, hearing the cave walls give way and crumble. It sounds somewhat like broken glass. Vax can barely hear it through the blood pumping in his ears.

“Okay, now left a bit. A bit more.” Keyleth says, taking his face in her hands and steering him in the right direction. Her breath is fast and fearful and her nails dig into his skin.

“Left, left! Hard left! Now!” She shouts, wrenching his head at a ninety degree angle. He stops in his tracks pivots left, running as fast as he can. He hears a mighty crash behind them and feels shrapnel scatter across his back.

“Stop! Now right! Go, go!” She directs. Steering him back to the path ahead of him. As he pushes himself to the limit the floor slides more. It becomes more loose and slides slowly down. The crystal shatters and grinds as the floor threatens to drop from below them.

“Jump!” She shouts. With his life in the hands of the woman he loves Vax’s mind goes quiet, making the most literal leap of faith in his life. He puts all the energy within him into his legs and pushes off the ground. He opens his eyes instinctively and sees that he jumped at just the right time, as there is no more floor beneath him. They are close to the tunnel which appears to be safe from the collapse, but he isn't sure if they will make the distance. His body thinks for him, throwing Keyleth to safety. The force of the push slows him down, and he begins to plummet into the pile of jagged crystal. He impacts with the crystal wall, just a few feet beneath the tunnel entrance. He skids his feet against the wall, fighting gravity and walking just a few steps upwards.

He reaches one arm up and prays to his goddess that he makes it back to his sister. He doesn't want to die like this. Not here, not now. He doesn't want his last memory of his sister to be of a fight. He doesn't want Keyleth to see him die like this, he doesn't want to leave her alone here. He closes his eyes and prays that he can fly, just for a moment. His heart leaps when he grasps the ledge, but drops once again as he feels it snap. His hands scrabble to find purchase, the crystal crumbling as he touches it. While he is struggling to get a hold he feels two thin hands clasp his wrist. He looks up to see Keyleth holding him in place with sweat and tears on her face. The crystal floor is now crumbling beneath both of them but with her support the two of them find ‘solid’ ground and continue running down the tunnel. As they run they hold hands and don't let go for anything. Their knuckles are white with the death grip they have, her nails dig into his skin and he is sure he must be crushing her hand, but the fear of losing each other is greater than the pain.

They run for quite a while with the sounds of the cave in long behind them before they finally collapse with exhaustion. Vax falls to his knees and then flat on his face. He rolls over to his back and holds his face in his hands, trying to regulate his breathing. This was nowhere near his first brush with death but it was one of the scariest. He looks to his side and sees Keyleth propped up on a wall. She is holding her injured thigh with one hand, trying to quell the bleeding that started up in their escape. Despite this she looks at him with a giant grin on her face. Somewhere in his mind, beneath the adrenaline and blood, he feels very proud.

He sits up to tighten the tourniquet on her leg and clean the blood away with his sleeve. Her heart pumping so fast made her lose more blood than she should have in those few minutes. Despite this she seems alright, fear is one hell of a drug. Vax looks into Keyleth's eyes and they drop each others hands in favor of holding each other. They hold one another's faces and press their foreheads together, synchronizing their breathing. The two of them devolve into laughter, holding each tightly. Vax knows that they aren't out of the frying pan yet but they evaded the fire, he thinks they deserve a bit of laughter. After a few minutes of catching their breath they hear footsteps. They turn their attention to the tunnel ahead and see the small form of Scanlan running towards them. He spots the two and skids to a halt.

“What are you two doing up here? I thought you were staying in the cave?” He asks, breathing heavily.

“There was a cave-in. We barely made it out.” Vax answers simply. Scanlan's tan face pales.

“A cave-in? Could that happen up here?” He asks.

“I don't think so. Smaller tunnels have more supporting them. We should still keep moving just in case though.” Keyleth answers. Vax can't find the mental power in him to question her.

“Why the hell weren't you answering our calls? You had us worried sick Scan-man.” Vax asks, pushing himself to his feet.

“I didn't get any calls. I tried to reach you guys too but didn't get anything back either.” He answers.

“Maybe the crystal is messing with our communicators.” Keyleth shrugs.

“Yeah, well it doesn't matter now. Did you find anything?” Vax asks. Scanlan hesitates, looking down at his feet.

“Uh, yeah. I found a way to the surface.” He says.

“Well, that's good, yeah?” Keyleth asks. She either didn't notice his body language or ignored it in favor of optimism.

“No, no it isn't.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Arthur!


End file.
